Okay, so here is a guide to all 12 classes that you are allowed to play in TmuX. Ready? Here we go!

As a new player, there are a few classes that you just steer clear of. These ones are particularly challenging for a variety of reasons. Most of the time, a class is difficult to play because it may need assistance from another character in order to gain experience at a decent rate.

If you are a new player, you might like to consider one of the following classes to help you get a grasp on playing mud.

Bash: This is a maneuverer that can only be used at the start of a fight. If successful, you deal a small amount of damage to the target monster, and it is stunned(cannot fight back) for a few seconds. Success of this move is determined by DEX and STR and your level.

Circle: This is similar to bash. However, you may execute this at any time during a fight (not just as the first move) and it deals no damage. It is a particularly useful skill because you can go (circle, hit, circle, hit) until a monster is dead. Success of this move relies on DEX and your level.

Berserk: A fantastic skill that grants you bonus HP (variable depending on your level and CON). You are given 3 bonus DEX points too, so it assists for both bash and circle. Use it before big boss fights.

Discussion:
Barbarians are fantastic beginner classes because of their mammoth amount of HP. Also, due to the fact that they only have 1MP per level, you will never really bother casting spells from a barbarian. This means that it is not important for an early player to know how to get all of the spells, because you never really need them anyway. Barbarians also allow for great stepping stones for other characters you make because of circle. Also of note is that barbarians have a subtle advantage at using weapons and gaining weapon proficiency. Critical hits are more common, and achieve larger damage than most other classes.

Stat Discussion:
You want high STR for Bash, and general good use of weapons, Dex for Bash and Circle. Lastly it we want decent CON so we can utilise the mammoth HP bonus that Barbarians get.

Bash: This is a maneuverer that can only be used at the start of a fight. If successful, you deal a small amount of damage to the target monster, and it is stunned(cannot fight back) for a few seconds. Success of this move is determined by DEX and STR and your level.

Circle: This is similar to bash. However, you may execute this at any time during a fight (not just as the first move) and it deals no damage. It is a particularly useful skill because you can go (circle, hit, circle, hit) until a monster is dead. Success of this move relies on DEX and your level.

Discussion:
Fighters are very similar to Barbarians, but do have some subtle differences. Firstly, they have a fair bit LESS HP than a barbarian, which is significant in later levels. Also to note is the fact that fighters do not have berserk, which further adds to the fact that they are not as beefy as their barbarian cousins. However, by sharing the bash and the circle skill, there is little difference in playstyle. Fighters can be a bit trickier for a new player because of their lesser hp, but as they advance, they can gain some decency with the use of magic. So they can often be a fair bit more usefull than a barbarian in later levels.

Stat Discussion:
You want high STR for Bash, and general good use of weapons, Dex for Bash and Circle. Lastly it we want decent INT so we can utilise the extra MP Fighters get.

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I would recommend: 18 18 7 8 3 Half-Giant

The next two classes are just fine. They are relatively simple but it is important to note that in early levels, they need to be treated as supporting characters. This is because they have very POOR weapon use and rely on magic to kill foes. So for this reason, they need a higher character around to help them train.

Teach: Virtually useless skill. It allows you to teach the level 1 realm spells (burn, blister, hurt, rumble) to other characters. This, my friends is what we call a nerfed skill.

Enchant: You need to be level 10 to use this skill. You can enchant a weapon or a piece of armor. Enchanted weapons get a slight “power” boost and they can hit monsters that are only affected by enchanted weapons. Occasionally useful, but the skill can only be used 4 times in a 24 hour day which becomes a nuisance.

Discussion: Mages are an absolutely insane class when they get to higher levels. They have the greatest ability to use offensive magic in the game. They also have the greatest amount of mana, which allows them to cause a great deal of burst damage to a monster in one go. It is important to note, however, that a mage has almost no HP at all and are very poor with using weapons. They must virtually rely on magic to kill foes. It is therefore a prerogative to find good offensive spells (and stun) for them as soon as possible. They are a great class but need assistance to become decent.

Stat Discussion: Most classes in this game have a few flexible choices when selecting stats. Mages are NOT one of those classes.

Quote:

There is no discussion to be had, this is the only build: 7 3 8 18 18 elf

Turn: Some monsters in this game are flagged “Undead”. When you are fighting an undead monster, you may try to turn it. Success is determined by your PTY and your level. If successful, it will either take half or all of the monsters HP. It is an incredibly powerful skill. It has a 30 second cooldown.

Pray: This skill doesn’t have a whole lot of direct use. When you use it, you gain a temporary (about 2 or so minutes) boost to your PTY stat. This allows you to heal people better, and turn things with greater consistency.

Discussion: Clerics are the best healers in the game, it is not uncommon to see a high level character cast mend-wounds spell for 30 or more HP. This makes Clerics a great asset to both a single player and a party. While its skills are only occasionally useful, they have much more utility than a mage. Clerics do have a slightly better time using weapons than mages, so they can often become a far better class to solo with. However it is important to note that the 3 second casting delay of a mage can often win out in certain situations over the cleric (who has 4 second delay). Clerics therefore are better when you are exploring new places, and fighting unstunnable monsters. Mages are better when you want to train low characters against known enemies.

Stat Discussion: Clerics may want to invest extra stats into STR because they get better weapon usage than mages. However it is still important to have good INT and PIE. Due to the fantastic healing of a cleric, you might argue that you can sacrifice some CON for more STR.

Quote:

Using 7 3 8 18 18 elf is often a good way to go but you might also try 17 3 3 16 15 elf if you want to get more STR

Now we move to some of the trickier classes. Often, it may be difficult to level these classes outside of a group but they are good choices for people who have a grasp on the game and want something out of the ordinary.

Sing: Learned at about level 4 or so, this skill allows you to heal every player in the room by a small amount. It is similar to the spell room vigor. The amount you heal is dependent upon your level and your PTY

Charm: A very cool and flashy skill that doesn’t do a whole lot. You can only use charm once every 10 minutes and it will only ever work on a monster that spawns (ie: NOT a permanent monster). If successful, the monster cannot harm you (but only you). So it can be funny when it works as a solo character, but due to the high cooldown, it rarely becomes important. Success rate is determined by your level and PTY

Fortune: This is a useless skill that has been basically removed from TMUX. To my best knowledge, the spell Know Aura does mostly the same thing.

Discussion: Bards are very similar to clerics. However, they are not quite as proficient when using healing spells. However, they do have the powerful sing skill, which allows them to heal large groups with relative ease. Their weapon proficiency is above average for such a heavy casting class, so they are quite an all-rounder when it comes to combat. Because they are such great healers and have the capacity to land a hit with a weapon, Bards become very powerful solo classes when they get on in levels.

Stat Discussion: For the most part, you want to have similar stats to a cleric, and possibly have a greater emphasis on strength.

Enchant: You need to be level 10 to use this skill. You can enchant a weapon or a piece of armor. Enchanted weapons get a slight “power” boost and they can hit monsters that are only affected by enchanted weapons. Occasionally useful, but the skill can only be used 4 times in a 24 hour day which becomes a nuisance.

Transmute: Near useless skill because so few objects exist that can be transmuted. You take an object which appears near-useless and transmute it. The intention is that it turns into something that you can actually use. For example, you might take a lump of metal, transmute it, and it turns into a weapon or armor or gold.

Recharge: If you have a wand for fireball, say. If you know the spell fireball, you can recharge the wand allowing you to use it over and over again. This is occasionally useful if you use that playstyle.

Detect-Magic: Alchemists have the Detect-Magic spell cast on them permanently.

Discussion: Alchemists are a bit of a kooky class. They are just mages with a slight tweak to their stats, a little better use of weapons, and skills that are occasionally more useful. Because of their 3 second cast delay, they are usually just as capable as a mage. Thanks to their extra weapon proficiency over a mage, they can make decent solo classes if you know how to do it. You need to stun a monster with MP, use a wand to blast them with a spell and then kill them with your weapon. Indeed a powerful proposition. For the most part, however, Alchemists are merely sub-par when compared to Mages and Clerics.

Stat Discussion: 18 INT is needed for the MP tick bonus. 17 PTY is needed for the tick speed bonus. STR would be preferable so you can make use of a weapon.

Search: Rangers have a special version of search. Whenever they use search for the first time in a room, they will see all hidden objects, monster, players and exits at once. This is incredibly usefull and best of all, does not rely on stats nor level.

Sneak: You can hide and then sneak into rooms to have a chance at not being detected (and stay hidden). Depends on your DEX and level.
Scout: When you scout an exit, you get so see what is in that room without moving into it. This is especially usefull if you want to map an area, or for general exploration purposes. Depends on your DEX and level.

Track: This is rarely useful, but it lets you find tracks on the ground to tell you where people have been going. Depends on DEX and level.

Haste: This is the premier skill of the ranger. It reduces your hit delay from 3 seconds down to 2 seconds. This makes you potentially very lethal when you are wielding a good wepon. It also raises your DEX by 5 points, and Lowers your AC by 1 (whole) point.

Discussion: Rangers are in my opinion the most versatile class in this mud. They have such great utility and can get good usage out of all of their skills. They make an extremely powerful solo class due to their good use of weapons, fantastic AC (thanks to haste) and reasonable mana gain per level which allows them to have enough mana to stun monsters effectively. In addition, their healing abilities are above average, which adds to their versatility. While it is occasionally an issue that Rangers have a 5 second cast delay, it does not make them any less of a threatening class.

Stat Discussion: Stats become difficult for a ranger because there are a vast amount of ways you can build one. If you for example want to be a combat only ranger, you would pump DEX and STR and be done with it. However, a ranger that intends to play solo would need to be a lot more careful with their distribution. You need to pay attention to INT and PIE so you can have decent usage of magic and good healing.

Sneak: You can hide and then sneak into rooms to have a chance at not being detected (and stay hidden). Depends on your DEX and level.

Scout: When you scout an exit, you get so see what is in that room without moving into it. This is especially usefull if you want to map an area, or for general exploration purposes. Depends on your DEX and level.

Pick Locks: Some locked doors can be picked, allowing you to explore some areas that otherwise could not be explored by parties without a thief or assassin. Depends on your DEX and level.

Backstab: Requires you to use a Sharp or Thrusting weapon to work. Works better when you are hidden. This manoeuvre can only be used to begin a battle. If successful, you perform a critical hit on the monster, usually about 3x the damage your weapon deals. Success depends on your level and DEX. Damage depends on your STR and level. If you fail the Backstab, you are left unable to fight for around 8 or so seconds.

Discussion: Assassins have an incredible potential to kill enemies in several seconds. When you Backstab an enemy, you can immediately follow it up with a powerful realm spell to hopefully kill the monster in only a few short seconds of battle. However backstabbing can leave an assassin incredibly vulnerable because of the potential to fail. Usually, an assassin needs to rely on another character to either stun or circle their prey. Solo assassins can be difficult, but are not unheard of. Assassins are also very good at PKilling, although that activity is rather uncommon.

Stat Discussion: In order to get Backstab working properly, it is vital to have maximum STR and DEX. INT can often be usefull to have more of, but not as important as STR and DEX.

Quote:

18 18 7 8 3 half-giant/hobbit is probably the most sensible option however an adventurous player would try a build that gets up to 16 or 17 intel for better casting.

Paladin-Good-Bonus: This isn’t the actual name (it has no name ingame). This is a passive skill that grants you an extra 1-2 damage per hit if your alignment is close to 1000 (extremely good). This is different to all other classes who operate at an alignment of 0 (Neutral). Paladins that are evil (lower than an alignment of -100) will have an incredibly difficult time trying to hit and cast spells.

Turn: Some monsters in this game are flagged “Undead”. When you are fighting an undead monster, you may try to turn it. Success is determined by your piety and your level. If successful, it will either take half or all of the monsters HP. It is an incredibly powerful skill. It has a 30 second cooldown.

Pray: This skill doesn’t have a whole lot of direct use. When you use it, you gain a temporary (about 2 or so minutes) boost to your PIE stat. This allows you to heal people better, and turn things with greater consistency.

Discussion: Initially, you would think that the Paladin is similar to the cleric because of their skills. While they do share the same skills, they are very different classes. Because of the 5 second casting delay on a paladin, it is very difficult for them to effectively use a hit-vig (smash and heal) method of playing. In addition to this, the Paladin has a far easier time using weapons and thanks to the Good-Allginment Damage Bonus, paladins are very rooted as a combat-oriented class. This is a stark contrast to the cleric’s caster playstyle. Keeping these differences in mind, it is important to note that a Paladin is not very good at soloing like a cleric. They do need assistance from another character to either stun or circle the target. They do fit well into a group of Fighters/Barbarians thanks to their combat proficiency and their adept healing skills. Lastly of note is that Paladins suffer a small EXP penalty for fleeing from a fight.

Stat Discussion: Unlike Rangers, Paladins are not good at soloing. So we do not need to fight for INT as much so that the paladin can cast effectively. Instead, we focus on STR for good hitting and PIE for good healing/turning.

Quote:

18 5 6 7 18 human is an effective choice.

I have 3 classes left to discuss. The thief is merely a challenging variant of the assassin, an otherwise decent class. The druid seems to be a heavily nerfed crossbreed of the ranger and the cleric. Lastly the Monk is a unique and very challenging class that starts slow but rewards you greatly with each passing level. I personally do not recommend playing these classes without a high level character than can circle or stun monsters for them.

Sneak: You can hide and then sneak into rooms to have a chance at not being detected (and stay hidden). Depends on your DEX and level.

Scout: When you scout an exit, you get so see what is in that room without moving into it. This is especially usefull if you want to map an area, or for general exploration purposes. Depends on your DEX and level.

Pick Locks: Some locked doors can be picked, allowing you to explore some areas that otherwise could not be explored by parties without a thief or assassin. Depends on your DEX and level.

Backstab: Requires you to use a Sharp or Thrusting weapon to work. Works better when you are hidden. This manoeuvre can only be used to begin a battle. If successful, you perform a critical hit on the monster, usually about 3x the damage your weapon deals. Success depends on your level and DEX. Damage depends on your STR and level. If you fail the Backstab, you are left unable to fight for around 8 or so seconds.

Peek: This allows you to see the some or all of the inventory of a monster or player. Depends on your DEX and level.

Steal: This allows you to steal any item that a monster or player has in their inventory. Depends on your DEX and level. If you fail, the monster will start attacking you.

Discussion: Thieves have a difficult time starting out because they have less HP than an assassin. Reportedly, a Thief’s backstab is more powerful, but this has not been verified. Another quirk is the fact that although a thief can steal from monsters, it is rarely useful because to do so, you need to be at a level where you would otherwise be able to kill the monster and take its stuff anyway. Therefore, it becomes apparent that the Thief is a class for PVP, whereby you can steal other players best possesions and slink off into the shadows with a nice prize. However, this will earn you a lot of enemies and lose you a lot of friends. For the most part, the assassin is the easier choice to play.

Stat Discussion: Due to their direct similarities, a thief would copy an assassin’s stats but would put a greater emphasis on DEX to get the most out of peek and steal.

Poison Immunity: Druids cannot be poisoned by effects of monsters or items.

Track: This is rarely useful, but it lets you find tracks on the ground to tell you where people have been going. Depends on DEX and level.

Transform: Similar to the transmute skill that alchemists have. It is a mostly useless skill because so few items exist that can be transformed. You can take some objects and transform them into stuff like armor or weapons.

Barkskin: This is the major skill for a Druid. When they use this skill, they get a massive (an entire 3 unit) reduction in their armor class. This therefore allows druids to attain the highest armor class in the game (-11, I believe). It wears off after only about half a minute but the duration is affected by your level.

Discussion: To me, Druids are a watered down mish-mash of rangers and clerics. They have pretty darn good healing skills (nowhere near cleric territory but) and have decent combat proficiency like a ranger. Because barkskin allows druids the lowest armor class in the game, it becomes a nice consolation from the fact that they have very low HP. So because of this, it is mostly best to build the druid as a hit-vig style class so you can work with what little they have. Druids are very much unloved and very few people care to even try them out.

Stat Discussion: To be honest, dex is NOT the stat you want to be pumping on a druid. You need STR so that you can hit well and you also need PIE so that you can heal well. INT is not really important because Druids have so little MP that they should not bother casting. You may find that maxing out CON for the extra HP can be worth it.

Barehand Bonus: Monks have a severe disadvantage in the early levels because they cannot use weapons well and must rely on their barehands. However their damage steadily increases per level which allows high level monks to attain exceptional amounts of damage per hit. Their upper damage limit is determined by their STR and their level. For example my monk has 21 str and is level 14 and can hit for a maximum of 20. At level 13 he could hit for a maximum of 19. Monks can still use regular weapons, (which is important if they fight enchant only monsters) but they hit with for a much lower than regular amount of damage.

Unarmored Bonus: In much the same way as the barehand bonus, monks cannot use armor. They do however, get a reduction in their armor class every level (approximately 0.6 units) and get additional reductions from their DEX.

Meditate: Every 2 minutes, a monk can meditate and heal themselves for an amount dependent on their PIE, CON and level. You must not meditate in the middle of a fight or else it will fail. There is a way around this, though. You must wait until your hit cooldown (please wait (1/2/3) seconds) is at 0 (ie: if you tried to attack the monster, you would be landing a hit) and then meditate. Touch is a very nice healing skill which scales very well into the higher levels.

Touch: The touch of death. This is the monk’s most powerful skill. Once every 10 minutes, they may attempt to touch any (living (not undead)) monster. The success rate depends on your CON and your level. If you ARE successful, the touch of death will take all or half of the monsters HP. This is a very fun skill, although if this is why you want a monk, you might want to try a cleric or paladin first. This is because they can use turn once every 30 seconds and are generally easier to play.

Discussion: Monks can become incredibly powerful once they reach level 10. Touch is an amazing skill which for the most part outclasses turn, because of the much higher occurrence of living monsters (instead of undead ones). However, the 10 minute cooldown on the skill makes it very annoying if you fail. So it is important to realise that a monk isn’t all about touch. Monks have great use of their barehands when they reach higher levels and thanks to meditate and a decent ability to heal, a higher level solo monk does just fine.

Stat Discussion: It’s important for monks to have good STR to hit well, good DEX for a good AC. It’s important to have good CON to meditate well and to also touch with good accuracy. Lastly PIE is important for meditate and also for other healing spells. This is a lot of demand for a stat-spread. However we do need to realise that a monk is only going to start getting good after level 10, so we can squeeze a few bonuses out here and there. It’s important to experiment with http://www.wonko.info/mud/stats/index.htm for this class.

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14 6 15 5 14 human looks okay (level 15 stats: 16 9 19 8 17)

There you have it, now go out there and play mud![/size]

Last edited by Mazil on Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:52 pm; edited 23 times in total

You'll suffer a neg piety modifier in the earlier levels but you'll end up with about 20 more hp and better stat modifiers at level 20 and a neutral piety
You won't get night vision however.

And if you go down to 15 strenth and put another point in intel you reach 18 intell for better ticks. You'll still get the +2 modifier at lvl 20 but you won't be able to carry the extra 10 pounds (?) that 18 strength will give you

Thankyou for the input, I think low piety for beggining levels is the way to go.

However I really don't mind having no hp, because I'm playing a class that can achieve the lowest ac, and in trying to get to lvl 20, Ill be able to get a lot of shiny armor from around the world. Night vision is not that much of a problem, so no worries with what race I go. I definitely want a +2 str so I can actually use weapons with a reasonable degree of accuracy (str affects missing). Also, thanks for giving me the idea of 18 intel, I think that will help a lot, especially if I'm going to abandon faster ticking with low pie.

Echoing gecko's point about the dex, you will not make a +1 modifier on dexterity. You will also suffer a sever hp reduction. IMHO you would be a lot better served with 16 3 6 15 14 human

You will get the same (or better) modifiers, your con will no longer be neagtive and you won't suffer from any hp negatives. You will also be able to carry slightly more due to not having the gnome penalty on your strength. Downside=no darkvision

Side notes: barksin may be affected by dex outside of modifiers in which case is hould have just kept my big mouth shut.

Second side note: unless you wish to push a stat outside the normal beginning realm of 3 to 18 you should always pick human. (provided you can put up with no darkvision) as you will start with 1 extra point over everyone else. And even then i would normally recommend not pushing stats below 3 to start with. I did for my characters and while at high levels you can get around it, there are just a lot better ways to set up your stats. Really consider human unless you want to max out a stat to 25. (btw this wasn't directed at you mazil, just thougth i'd put itin here for interest and cause i was bored.)

Last edited by Swampy on Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:38 pm; edited 1 time in total_________________From mud we come, to mud we return...

I mean unless your going to play your druid solo it dosn't really matter how bad is dex is at the lower levels, it only matters what it is at 18.

I'm just pointing out that because 13 dosn't give a +1 stat you will achieve THE SAME ac as you would with 8 dex AND you will have better HP.

There is one caveat on this. There MAY be an effect of dexterity under barksin. I don't know. And even if there was a minimal effect you would still have to weigh it against the loss of 18hp.

There is no point sacrificing hp, especially on a hit vig character if you don't need to.

As far as i can tell the only impact dex has on barskin is that it may affect how successful you are at it. Since this isn't really a use in combat ability (ie you would trigger it before a fight, having a slightly lower dex (but the same modifier) is inconsequential

Why do you think that?
the TMUX stat engine, only gives a +1 mod at 16.

Both the isenguard forums and i presume mambas post have been taken off the isenguard engine. This is not the same as the TMUX engine. Which is why it says on the stat engine page "stolent then modified from the original isenguard engine."

However i am prepared to accept that i am wrong so i will go and test this in game.

at 18, 17 8 21 8 18. hitvig druid. i've played low ac and i was getting hit 1 in 4 times by subject coordinators at -8ac. in saying that if you wanted to go the ac route 21 dex is the minimum. i wouldnt go for intel unless i wanted the extra mp per tick. druids dont have enough mp to stun and cast in between, and they have something like a 5 second delay timer.

my recent druid has something like 18 21 9 8 8 and its pretty effective grouping. the low ac takes the hits away from my cleric and when it gets hit i can heal quickly. magic profs can be raised pretty quickly, its got close to 50% fire.

you want to avoid low con, no one wants to have the same hp as a mage at level 10.

eclipse uses similar stats to the hitvig ones i suggested, and hes got 60-70 water proficiency with 8ish intel. and he kick ass.

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You have 54 points to distribute among your 5 stats. Please enter
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YES. Those are verry basic and good stats for newbies to use just to get used to the game. They can then adjust their stats for new characters has they understand this game a bit better. I liked how u got 18 in the 2 major stats and neutral ones in the others.

as a general "I dunno what to use" guide they are pretty good I think, and I disclaim by saying they have to decide their own stat mix anyways, so I think it is more useful than the 10 12 10 10 12 original suggestion that is shite for every class

This is true. I would think that for most players, after getting a feel for the game, they would start experimenting. By then, they would know where to find the stat generator to have their on dial-a-combo's.